City: Assembled : Response

When I was walking in the gallery, I was really interested by the structure and the idea of exhibiting photography for the public. I thought that taking a photograph is a part of the work, but presenting it is really important. The scale one to one of the panorama makes that work even more interesting since you have to think of the distance between the visitor and the picture, their relation…

I looked at different historic building, constructed to accommodate panorama, such as Daguerre’s dioramas or cycloramas. These structures may appear a bit dated today since they were really famous at the end of the nineteenth century. However, I wondered if this type of constructions still exists today or if you can find contemporary constructions. Thus I looked at different projects.

Panorama XXL, Rouen - exterior

One is a new rotunda that just opened in December 2014 in the quays of Rouen (France). It is called ‘’Panorama XXL’’ and is used to exhibit the work of the German artist Yadegar Asisi who does panoramas in different sites around the world : Rome, Berlin, Amazonia, Everest. The visitor is invited to climb on three different platforms (6m, 12m and 15m) in order to observe the picture of 32 meters high, the equivalent of a building of 12 stories, with a circumference up to 110m. A structure was built between May and November and it was dedicated only for his work.

Panorama XXL, Rouen - exterior

To my mind, these different structures appear as a way to experience photography, not only to observe it as a spectator but also to ‘live the photography’. Thus, you need a transition between reality and that kind of space. In the project of Rouen, the public walks into dark corridors before arriving to the rotunda, in order to lose their spatial awareness. In the City : Assembled Panorama gallery, the surrounding space is thought as an area to exhibit 1914 documents but can also be seen as an area of transition before the main panorama.

- Hélène Guillemot

Phoenix Rising: City, Assembled, response

Three architecture students started to develop in ’Disseminating architecture 14’ the idea of representing the area of the City Assembly House. 

A wooden circular structure carries the content of the exhibition. This impressive construction absorbs the meters high old space. My first thought was how carefully the proportions of this timber construction must have been selected for the exhibition space.

The exterior part shows the photographs and digital information explaining how the Civic Exhibition 1914 inspired the work as well as the process of the entire project. Carefully selected photographs from the past bring out the ’City of Collective Memory’ by pointing out the problems of the first half of the twentieth century. The inside is covered by an immersed panorama photography layered by video recording of the same place. 

The way how both medias interact with each other has been extremely inspiring and reminds me of Adam Magyar’s work ’Stainless (video)’.  In my judgement their color saturated layering structure can be compared to a relived moment, memory. The projector only can project a certain surface for a certain point of time. The video incorporates the captured moments. The panorama photograph feels static and empty due to the lack of people walking along the street. Through video recording the entire panorama feels ’alive’. Through this multi layering I felt like a flâneur, enjoying the sounds, spatial and light intensity.

The students of ’Disseminating architecture 15’ have been asked to invigilate ’City, Assembled’ for one afternoon in the space of time of 26 January until 8 February. This experience felt more intensive because of the cold coming in from the outside. It felt like being on the street being part of South William Street. Additionally the daylight entering the room influenced atmosphere of the installation.

- Asal Mohtashami

Disseminating Architecture: Week 3: Aerial View

Oblivion 7N, 2004 - David Maisel

This week we will be looking at the view of the city from above, both near and far.
While preparing your 5 minute presentation on your selected aerial topic/photographer, read Vittoria di Palma's essay 'Zoom: Google Earth and Global Intimacy' from the book she co-edited, 'Intimate Metropolis: Constructing Public and Private in the Modern City'.
Also read 'The Synoptic View': Aerial Photographs and Twentieth-Centry Planning by Tanis Hinchcliffe from the book Camera Constructs: Photography, Architecture and the Modern City, edited by Andrew Higgott and Timothy Wray.
Post your 300 word response to the City:Assembled Panorama on the blog before our next session on Wednesday 11th at 11am (in the workshop room to accommodate numbers).